


Wasn't enough

by ellezaria (Qarnotis)



Category: Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)
Genre: Blood Loss, Blood and Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mugging, Stabbing, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27669410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qarnotis/pseuds/ellezaria
Summary: Late night. Deserted street. Aman just wants to reach home as soon as possible.
Relationships: Kartik Singh/Aman Tripathi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 21
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone, long time no see.  
> This was supposed to be for whumptober but I had exams so *shrug* here it is now.  
> Heed the tags, thats all I'm gonna say.  
> This has become way longer than i intended.

Aman sent a quick text to Kartik. 'Reached. I'll be home in 15 mins <3'

'Ps. Got a little something for you'

He gathered his bag and got down from the bus. It was 1.30 in the night and this area was dead silent except for the occasional honk of a vehicle in the distance. 

He started walking home. It had been a long day and he was very tired. He had attended a three day conference in a different city. Kartik had wanted to come pick him up but he was down with a flu so Aman had forbidden him. 

Aman just wanted to be teleported into his home and be with Kartik so he could have some food and then cuddle up with kartik to sleep. Their home was a 15 minute walking distance from the bus stop.

The narrow streets were mostly deserted. The streetlights covered the road in a dull orange. Very few people were up and about. Occasionally a rickshaw would pass. 

A few minutes later he got the uncomfortable sensation that someone was watching him. He hefted his bag closer and looked all around him quickly. No one was around. The street lamp at the corner flickered. He quickened his pace. A couple more alleys to walk through, and he would be in sight of the building where they lived.

But. If he took a shortcut-two left turns and then straight past the small Medical Store at the bend of the road- that would cut the time in half. He could reach home in five minutes. 

So he did. 

The further he walked the more it looked unfamiliar.  _ Shouldn't the Store be here by now? _ He walks faster. Instead of the Store he hits a dead end of the alley. 

_ Oh shit _ . Aman realised his mistake. _ Took a left at the wrong street. _

He turns around to go back but someone is standing a few feet behind him. He stops in his tracks. Dread pools in his gut.

A dark silhouette. The person was bigger than him with broad shoulders. His haggard clothes were obscured in the darkness. Aman couldn't make out anything else about the man. 

A gruff voice rang out, "Hand over your bag and wallet."

"No," Aman replies, his voice coming out smaller than intended. He holds the bag closer. 

Aman glanced around for a way out. There wasn't. The man was standing directly in the way of the exit. If he could distract the man somehow, he could run past him and escape. 

He extended his hand, "Last time asking- hand it over," the man threatened. But Aman didn't miss the undercurrent of desperation in the tone. 

"No" Aman replies a bit firmer this time. All his important work was in his laptop in the bag. So were a few boxes of sweets for Kartik. He wasn't giving this up so easily. 

"You'll regret this!” The man rushed at him. 

In the suddenness of the movement Aman took a step back and the bag dropped from his hand. 

He had a split second to steady his stance and block the first punch headed straight for his throat. Aman aimed his knee to the man's gut. The man dodged out of the way. He spun around towards his back grabbing Aman's other wrist. His arm was twisted painfully against his own back. A sharp cry escaped Aman. He struggled against him trying to get free. 

He was about to stomp his shoe onto the attacker's foot, when he felt a sharp pain on his bicep. The man had stabbed him twice in his other arm. Blood started staining his sleeve quickly. Before Aman could fully comprehend it, he watched as the man stabbed the sharp knife several more times into the side of his thigh. 

Then the attacker kicked his legs from behind and Aman crumpled to the grimy and dirty ground. 

Aman grunted in an effort to get up. But the pain in his arm and thigh was making it difficult to focus. 

The attacker had grabbed his dropped bag and phone and was running out of the alley. He glanced back at Aman for a moment, "Told you, you would regret it,” he said. And just like that, he was gone, leaving Aman bruised and bloody with little hope of any help arriving. 

Aman crawled up into a sitting position, breathing hard. He couldn't let panic overtake him. He tore off the hem of his shirt with difficulty, his wounded arm not much help. 

He divided the torn fabric into two. He used one to put pressure on the wound in his thigh; the other on his arm. 

He looked around. The splotches of his own blood glinted eerily in the dim light, looking almost black. He had to get out of here. He would bleed out in the alleyway without any help. 

Aman tied a crude bandage around his wounds and pressed on them to stem the blood flow. 

Grunting, He struggled to get to his feet. Once he was upright he struggled to catch his breath. He was feeling light headed. Aman hobbled along as best he could manage. 

The exit of the alley was still quite a distance away for the injured Aman. Aman tried his best to get out as fast as he could. 

But.

It wasn't enough.

Several paces before his escape, he stumbled over something on the ground. His legs gave out, unable to keep him up. His body connected with the ground again for the second time. He moaned in pain. His head felt full of cotton. 

The fight went out of him as the darkness in his vision swallowed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter in 2-4 days


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescued.

Aman awoke. The sudden influx of light in his eyes made them hurt so he shut them again. His throat felt parched. His arm and leg throbbed dully.

He could hear the rhythmic _beep beep beep_ of something very closeby. He seemed to be lying on something soft.

Aman opened his eyes again slowly, letting them adjust. He checked his surroundings. He was in a hospital bed. It seemed to be early morning judging from the light outside the small window. His brows furrowed in confusion. Last he remembered was... collapsing in the dark alley. Then everything came back to him in a rush. The fight, the stabbing, him collapsing… _But how did he get here?_

Aman noticed that his palm was held by another's warm hand. He looked down towards it and sure enough there was a man sitting on a chair and resting his head on the edge of the bed beside him. _Kartik?_

That small movement of moving his fingers caused the man to jerk awake.

"Aman!" Kartik cried in relief. Tear tracks were plainly visible on his cheeks. "You had me so scared, _saale_."

Aman looks apologetic. "Kartik, I guess… now you wouldn't be getting to eat the sweets I bought for you, isn't it?" He finished with a lame shrug.

Kartik chuckles, shoulders sagging in relief. "You escaped bleeding to death and this is the first thing you say when you wake up?"

Before Aman could retort any further, there was a knock at the door and a nurse came in.

"Oh good you're awake, Mr Aman." She smiles comfortingly "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty. And my head and limbs hurt," he replies.

Kartik hands him a glass of water and he drinks.

She nods, "That is expected. Does anywhere else hurt?”

"Doesn't feel like it." Except for the persistent dull throb of pain in his limbs and the headache, nothing felt wrong anywhere.

"Good thing you weren't stabbed in any important organs. The wounds are not very deep and should heal within a few weeks," she reassures.

"And," she turns to walk away but pauses, "As soon as you are feeling better, police would like to take a statement about all this."

Aman swallows and nods.

"So what happened?" Aman questions Kartik after the nurse leaves.

> Kartik was waiting for Aman to come home. It was already 15 mins since his message. He should have been back by now.
> 
> Five more minutes pass and he calls Aman. His phone was switched off. Battery must have died.
> 
> Now nearly half an hour had passed with no arrival of Aman. That long to come home from the nearby bus stop? Doesn't seem possible. But it's also possible that the bus might have been held up somehow and Aman couldn't inform him.
> 
> Still, he was feeling uneasy.
> 
> So Kartik grabs his keys and heads out.
> 
> He takes the bike. He is driving slowly, looking around for Aman. Almost no one is out in the streets.
> 
> Kartik was halfway across the route to the bus stop. Still no sign of Aman. He gripped the handle tighter and sped up a little.
> 
> He almost didn't hear the faint groan over the noise of the engine. He strained his ears.
> 
> And there it was again. A groan. Then a thud. From somewhere up ahead. Was someone in trouble? They might need his help. Aman could wait a bit longer.
> 
> Once he had reached where he thought the noise had come from, he parked the vehicle and started looking around.
> 
> A moan reached his ears. That sounded familiar. He ran towards it, checking the passing alleys for any sign of it.
> 
> Kartik almost rushed past it. In the dim, dark lighting he thought he saw a glimpse of a person lying on the ground. He went to check.
> 
> He approached the collapsed man. The figure seemed awfully familiar.
> 
> Eyes widening in horror, he recognised him.
> 
> "Aman??” he cried out.
> 
> He rushed to him and turned Aman on his back. Aman didn't respond.
> 
> He hurriedly checked his pulse. His mounting worry ebbed a bit when he felt the beat under his fingertips.
> 
> Then Kartik noticed the dark stain on his shirt. Blood. From Aman's limbs. And the crude bandage put there to stop the blood.
> 
> "Aman? Aman! Wake up, you can't leave me like this!" Kartik's heart was racing and the panic was threatening to overwhelm him.
> 
> He forced himself to focus and think rationally. This was not the time to panic.
> 
> The blood was flowing very slowly from the wounds now, the bandages seemed to have done their job somewhat. He still pressed on them to stop the remaining flow.
> 
> Kartik got out his phone. His blood stained hands were making it difficult to operate it. Nevertheless…
> 
> "Hello, ambulance?..."

Kartik finished narrating the event. He had tears in his eyes. He clutched Aman's hand.

"How did you end up there?"

"Igotlost," Aman mumbled.

"What?"

"Okay, fine. I got lost." He repeated sheepishly.

Kartik's brow shot up in question.

So Aman told him his side of the story.

By the end, Kartik was struggling to keep his fury contained. "Who the fuck was that?" His fists clenched.

"I will find him and make him suffer for what he did to you!"

"Yes yes of course you can; but you need to let the police do their job. But first come on here, I need a hug." _Desperately._

Aman made space for him on the bed on his uninjured side. Kartik sat on the bed and enveloped him in his embrace, careful not to jostle his wounds too much.

_This right here, in Kartik's arms was his safe space. This was home. He was protected here._

Aman's eyes burned with tears and he rapidly blinked them away.

Kartik's grip around his shoulder became firmer. "Shhh," he whispers, "I'm here, nothing can hurt you now." He rubbed gentle circles on his back as Aman cried out the overwhelming emotions of the day.

Finally when Aman felt better, he disetangled himself from Kartik and just simply rested his head on his shoulder.

"When," Kartik started, his tone struggling to be even, "I found you lying there, blood all over you, I truly thought I had lost you."

Aman gripped his hand tighter. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"No. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be the one who put you here in the hospital in the first place."

"Um… you were the one who brought me here…" Aman tried to lighten the air.

Kartik sighs exasperated. "You _know_ what I mean." But there was a hint of a smile around the tone, and Aman knew his job was done. Kartik's mind was prone to falling down rabbit holes of _what ifs_ and the little joke had taken his mind off it, at least for the time being.

* * *

Much later, when Aman's wounds had almost completely healed, the perpetrator was found and punished according to the crime. They couldn't recover the laptop-he had sold it off for its parts.

It took an even longer time for Aman to start going somewhere alone. The physical wounds were healed and mental ones were slowly getting better. The trust and faith in the world was lost but he was very slowly starting to believe again. After all, how could he not. Kartik's eternal love made sure of that. _No one was immune to Kartik's sunshine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was the fluff worth the pain? Let me know.  
> Constructive criticism welcome.  
> There will be a (probably) companion fic to this. It's Kartik's turn to be hurt. Can't leave it at just one of them wounded. It isn't fair. 😈  
> Idk when I'll complete it, I hope it's soon.

**Author's Note:**

> edit: [its kartik's turn to be whumped](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29439900)  
> [Behind the screen of the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24840997/chapters/67816466#workskin)


End file.
